An offshore wind cabling manufacturer will use £130m of public and private sector funding to build a state-of-the-art subsea cable manufacturing facility in Northumberland.
JDR Cable Systems’ plans to invest in facilities that will develop and build components for next-generation wind turbines will create and safeguard more than 440 jobs across the North-East of England.
Using funding from the government’s £160m Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Support scheme, plus its own private investment, JDR will build the new subsea cabling manufacturing facility in Cambois, near Blyth. As well as creating 170 new jobs in Cambois, JDR will also protect 270 roles at its existing facility in Hartlepool, providing a huge boost to local economies in the North-East of England.
The new Blyth facility, which is expected to begin construction next year ahead of a 2024 opening, will supply JDR’s Hartlepool site with cable cores and high voltage underwater cabling which will enable the UK to compete more effectively with foreign manufacturers and increase its standing in global export markets.
Today’s announcement takes the total amount of government and private sector investment in the so-called ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ to £675m already this year. Stimulated by the Prime Minister’s 10-Point Plan, this investment is creating and protecting almost 3,600 jobs across the Humber and North-East, as well as building the UK’s offshore wind capacity to deliver clean electricity generation as the country ends its reliance on coal for power by 2024.
Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “The UK’s offshore wind sector is a major industrial success story, but we need to ensure local workers and manufacturers fully reap the economic benefits of this booming industry.
“This major investment is a perfect example of how our transition to a low carbon economy can attract new industries, create jobs, reduce our reliance on unreliable fossil fuels and generate export opportunities as we build back greener from the pandemic.”
Tomasz Nowak, CEO at JDR, said the proposed facility in England’s North East was “strategically located to capitalise on the rapidly growing and largest offshore renewable energy market in Europe.”
He added: “As the energy transition gathers pace and the UK’s offshore wind sector continues to thrive, turbines are growing taller and farther from shore, calling for higher voltage subsea cables.
“We’re delighted to build on our legacy as a leading provider of subsea cables to the offshore energy sector by investing in this new facility.”
Find out more: www.jdrcables.com
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*Header image courtesy of Shutterstock
